SL vs IND: Krunal Pandya tests positive for COVID-19, second T20I postponed

The Coronavirus has breached India’s bio bubble in Sri Lanka as Krunal Pandya has tested positive for COVID-19. Consequently, the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka has been postponed to July 28. Eight close contacts have been identified, all from the Indian contingent, and have been forced into isolation. The players will be retested today and only if they return negative results, the series will resume.

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"Krunal has tested positive and the T20I on Tuesday has been postponed and will happen on Wednesday if all the others test negative. The players are currently isolating,” a source close to the developments said.

The Indian team has been in the bubble ever since they landed in Sri Lanka thus how Pandya got infected is a matter of investigation. There are no reports of any bio-bubble breach as well. Meanwhile, the third T20I has also been pushed to July 30. India is leading the T20I series 1-0, having won the first T20I by 38 runs. Krunal is the second Indian player after Rishabh Pant to test positive for COVID-19.

Recently, an employee of Sri Lankan Cricket associated with the media also contracted the virus which led to the press box being shut down for the first T20I. Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower, a team analyst and a reserve batsman had also tested positive upon returning from England were COVID-19 infected as many as seven members of the England ODI contingent.

This is the second instance of a match being postponed due to COVID-19 this month. Earlier, last week, the second ODI between West Indies and Australia was postponed after a non-playing member of the West Indies contingent tested positive for COVID-19.